The present disclosure concerns flash memory devices and, in particular, error correction mechanisms for multi-level cell flash memory devices.
Flash memory devices, such as solid-state drives, are becoming increasingly popular for both consumer and enterprise applications. While flash memory devices have many performance advantages compared to conventional hard disk drives, the performance of flash memory devices tends to decrease as the total read, write, and erase cycles (I/O cycles) performed in the devices increase. This performance degradation is even more pronounced in multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory compared to single-level cell (SLC) flash memory. More sophisticated error correction algorithms are needed to improve the endurance of flash memory devices and to allow device manufacturers to take advantage of the increased data capacity available using MLC flash memory.